Monster Rancher: The Dark Ones
by LtStorm
Summary: The Rebels have new help in their battle against Mu, but will the Shady Shellfish trick them? Alternate Universe, new friends, extra help, Chapter 5 now up, enjoy all, R&R if you like, no flames, please, something else I'd have to ignore. Rated PG-13 for
1. Chapter 1: Night of the Carnival

**This fic picks up where the last episode of Monster Rancher I saw left off for about 2 months, it re-writes from the episode with the Rebels are trapped in the ancient amusement park to the end of the series and the death of Mu, I try to keep the enemies they meet the same, very little changes are made throughout the overall plot and it is a bit shorter than the series. I tried to keep the character's personalities the same, though I'm not sure how good of a job I did. I hope you enjoy it, this one of my first successful fics so be kind with the reviews. I'll update as I de-bug the chapters further.** **Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Rancher, I do on the other hand own Galeon so, BACK OFF! ** **

Monster Rancher: The Dark Ones 

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Chapter 1: The Night of the Carnival 

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The group of rebels looked up at the Magics that stood on top of the roller coaster track inside the darkened amusement park. One of them holding Mocchi by the neck, his other hand held to the small pink blobs throat threatening it's death if they attack. 

Something flew across the roof, blocking the moonlight for a split second, like a shadow then the Magic holding Mocchi dropped the little monster as it's head snapped back. The Magic stumbled forward and fell off the track to it's death, the other Magics standing next to it both looked back as they were seemingly kicked off the rollercoaster, both falling to their deaths. 

A figure leapt from the track and spun in air until it landing on the ground, it stood erect and leapt back as a Magic attacked and threw it's cloak off to reveal a boy Holly's age dressed in red-brown plate armor with a sword and shield on his back. The boy drew his weapons and blocked the Magic's punch then delivered the finishing blow. 

Two others ran at him each armed with a dagger. He polished off one as the other ran by him ignoring him. It headed straight for the other group. The boy leapt in front of Holly making the Magic stop, it jabbed the dagger into the boys stomach with all it's might, piercing the armor and straight down to his flesh. The boy backed up nearly falling into Holly but stumbled to the side at the last instant. 

The Magic drew another dagger and raised it up as a thumping sound came quickly from the left, something big and red charged into the Magic and knocked it across the building complex with it's staff. A pixie type monster descended from the ceiling and shouted "Lightning." as a bolt of electricity shot from her hands and hit the park generator. 

The Magics started to retreat when a tiger looking monster ascended from the shadows cast on the floor by the above rollercoaster track, the Magics froze in place as it leapt forward biting and impaling them with it's horns. It landed on it's feet and slid around to face the new lost disks and seemed to smile as smoke rolled off the ground. 

The boy stumbled around for a few seconds and turned to the rebels as he pulled the knife from his stomach, the knife's blade was covered in blood as he dropped it and fell to his knees. Holly ran out to help him but he held his hand up motioning for her to stay away as he stumbled to his feet. He looked around the park, there were lost disks scattered everywhere. He looked up as the pixie type monster dropped down in front of him. 

"All of Mu's lackeys are dead." 

The boy nodded as Genki stepped forward. "Pi-Pixie?" 

The monster looked down at Genki. "Pixie? I'm not Pixie, the name's Daina." 

Genki looked down as Mocchi ran up to him. "Mocchi, you're okay!" 

"Yeah, chi, he saved me." Mocchi pointed at the boy holding his stomach with his hand tightly. 

The boy picked his sword up off the ground and walked over to a helmet laying in front of a lost disk, behind it was a sheath and dagger. He then grabbed the vines wrapped around the disk and pulled them off the ground to reveal a small brown bag under it. He tossed the lost disk to the side and picked the bag up looking at it then put it into a small pouch on his belt. He looked up as the centaur creature stood beside him. It reached down to touch the cut on his armor to have it's hand knocked away. 

"Antares, I'm okay." 

The monster nodded. "If you say so, but that looks like a nasty wound." 

The tiger monster leapt over in front of the other group as he slowly walked towards them Tiger jumped his way barring his teeth. "Who are you?" He said through clenched teeth. 

The other monster returned the snarl. "The name's Cujo." 

The young swordsman turned and walked over to them his eyes were fixed on Holly who returned his stare. But instead of telling them to leave he simply said "What are you doing here? Don't you know it's not safe here? Mu's army patrols this area, and the bandits do too." 

Genki stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Genki, my names mean energy, what's your name?" 

The other boy crossed his arms. "My name is of no importance to you." 

Daina sighed as she landed standing beside the boy. "His name is Galeon or Gali as we call him, I'm Daina, this is Cujo, and the red lobster over there is Antares." she said pointing to the Terror Dog and Antares. 

Antares growled a warning at her to which Daina replied by smiling. 

Galeon turned his back on the group. "What are you doing here?" 

Holly walked over to him and stood in front of him. "My name's Holly, we're looking for the Phoenix so we can defeat Mu, what are you doing here?" 

Galeon closed his eyes pretending he wasn't looking at her. "Mu stole an artifact from me, I'm going to get it back." 

"An artifact?" Genki said as he cocked his head to the side. 

"Yeah, you know, something of value." Galeon said spitefully. 

"Well, sor-orry." Genki stuck his tongue out and turned his back on Galeon as he crossed his arms. 

Holly looked back at the lost disks covered in vines then at the four newcomers. "But, why did you have to...kill them?" 

Galeon scowled. "What goes around comes around." 

Holly sighed. "But wouldn't killing them make you no better than them." 

Galeon shrugged. "I do not care if I am any better than them, I have my way of doing things, and maybe you have yours. Their lives mean nothing to me." 

Holly's eyes glazed over. "But they are living beings too, they have families, friends, how do you think your friends would feel if you were killed?" 

Galeon glanced up at Antares, Daina, and Cujo. "My friends could, and would, go on without me. My life is of no significance." 

Holly mulled it over a few seconds. "How can you say that?...Don't you think your parents would be worried if something happened to you? It'd break their hearts hearing you talk like that." 

Galeon was unmoved. "I have no parents. I have no one. No family. No loved ones. Few friends." 

Galeon bent down and picked up his cape then drew it up around him. He then walked off without so much as a look back. 

Holly was nearly moved to tears. "How could he be so...dark..." she whispered as she clutched her hands together in front of her chest. 

"I say we shouldn't trust them." Suezo said as he watched Galeon disappear into the darkness. 

Hare drew the rebels together. "Suezo's got a point, we don't know where they came from, they could be baddies for all we know." Genki and Mocchi nodded. 

"Right." 

"Chi." 

Cujo turned and followed Galeon off into the darkness. Antares and Daina stood looking at the other group in the huddle before Antares finally sighed and dropped the saddle bags he had slung over his shelled back on the ground. 

Tiger turned and slinked off in another direction without saying a thing. 

"Where're you going?..." Genki said inquisitively. 

"I want to be alone." 

Genki shrugged and then sat down beside the fire Daina had stared. 

Galeon and Cujo sat side by side on the roof of the old amusement park peering out over the rolling hills that stretched for miles across the landscape. Cujo looked back to light footsteps as Tiger slowly made his way over to them and sat looking out across the scape. 

Galeon normally used a scene such as this to relax his mind and clear away the clutter, but for some reason he kept drifting to someone he had met earlier, someone named Holly. He finally gave up on relaxing and let his mind wander onto the subject of her. He looked over and realized they had been joined by a member of the other group and thought for a second before recognizing the dog looking monster. 

"Tiger of the Wind, I presume." 

Tiger nodded. "Yep." 

Cujo looked around Galeon at Tiger. "So you're fighting Mu now also?" 

Tiger nodded. "Holly's smile captivated me...they have a point though. Mu needs to be stopped...and besides, I owe Genki one." 

Galeon nodded. "I'm after Mu for what he's done. He's got it coming, he killed two of my monsters and has been raising all around hell with me lately." 

"Hmm...It is not always wise to hold a grudge, it will only lead to trouble." 

Galeon smiled slightly. "Well, maybe I am looking for trouble." 

Tiger sighed and shook his head. "Have it your way. By the way, how long have you been fighting against Mu?" 

Galeon leaned back on the sloped surface placing his hands behind his head. "A little over a year." 

"Hmm...and how old are you? Thirteen? Fourteen?" 

Galeon smiled. "I turn fifteen in about another week." 

"A year is a long time to be fighting a grudge, you should be spending your childhood having fun." 

Galeon shook his head. "No, my body is fourteen years old, I've lived for thirty-three years." 

Tiger had a perturbed look on his face. "But how?" 

"The artifact Mu stole from me and Colt is called 'The Stone of Time', the Timestone can drastically slow a persons aging, they only age about a year for every thirty. On top of that what makes your body cease aging is called a 'Manastone' it also gives you access to a great deal of power, each of us have one, and I recovered all but three off of that Magic." 

"Wow..." Tiger said amazedly. 

"Yeah, 'wow'..." 

Cujo stood and leapt down through a hole in the roof then went over and laid down by the fire Holly was now cooking dinner on. 

"You're more welcome to have supper with us." Holly said to Antares. 

Antares nodded. "Thank you, your offer is very kind." 

"Oh, it's the least I can do, you saved us after all..." She replied as she started to stir the soup again. 

Antares looked at Cujo as he walked up and sat down then back at Holly. "In advance, please excuse how these two act..." 

Cujo growled at him quietly causing Antares to seem to smiled lightly. 

Holly looked at Cujo and nodded. "I'm sure they couldn't be any messier that Genki, Mocchi, and Suezo..." 

Antares chuckled then abruptly stopped. "It wasn't their table manners I was getting at...It's their bad attitudes." 

Cujo growled at him again. 

Antares sighed shook his head. 

Holly stirred the stew she was making in a pot over the fire as Genki came over with a arm full of sticks followed by Hare with the same. The two dropped them beside the fire then sat down to rest and warm themselves. Suezo and Mocchi sat on the other side looking into the flame. While Daina laid on her back looking up at the stars through a hole in the roof. 

Antares and Cujo looked across the amusement park as something dropped from the ceiling and walked slowly towards them followed closely by a smaller animal. After a few seconds Galeon and Tiger came into the light of the fire and stood looking at the group. Galeon then looked at Antares. 

"Are we staying here tonight?" 

Antares nodded. "Yes, we might as well, no use in going any further." 

Galeon shrugged took his armor off piece by piece to reveal a black jumpsuit he wore underneath the armor. He tied the plates together and dropped them beside the fire then sat down himself. Holly looked up at him as he sat down and blushed slightly from the sight of his muscular figure through the jumpsuit. She sat staring at him for a few minutes before Genki waved a hand in front of her face causing her to snap out of it. 

"Hey, Holly, how much longer 'till dinner's ready?" 

She snapped out of the stare quickly and put her hand to the side of the her face. "Oh, uh, not much longer." 

Holly looked up from the pot of stew at Galeon again to realize he was now the one staring. She blushed a little and he apparently realized he was staring and quickly looked to the ground. She looked down at it then took a bowl from beside herself and poured a ladle full into it. 

"Genki, it's ready." 

"Oh boy!" The young boy said as he sat down beside the fire to eat just to be shoved out of the way by Suezo and Hare who wrestled over getting their own first. After the two moved away Holly looked around to see Tiger, Galeon, and Cujo sitting side by side across the fire from her, and Mocchi and Antares to her right but Daina was nowhere to be found. 

"Hey, where's Daina?" 

Antares shrugged. "She'll come back soon enough." 

"Oh..." Holly said as she poured the last bowl full. She looked across the fire at Galeon sitting quietly with his arms and legs crossed as if he were meditating. "Here Gali, this bowl is for you." 

Antares and Cujo both had shocked looks on their faces as they looked at Holly then at Galeon. They both moved to stop him from doing anything irrational but he simply looked up and said. "Thank you." as he took the bowl. 

The two monsters sat back down a little uncertain about what had just happened but figured he hadn't heard her not use his full name. 

By the time they had finished dinner it had gotten late and the moon had risen high into the sky. 

"I think it's best we turn in now." Tiger said as he laid down beside the fire. 

Genki nodded as he un-rolled his sleeping bag. "Yeah, we gotta keep our strength up for fighting Mu." 

They had all laid their sleeping bags out and were starting to bed down when Genki noticed Galeon still sitting beside the fire with his eyes closed. "We should get some sleep, Gali, it's late." 

Galeon opened his eyes slowly. "The name is Galeon, and I'll take first watch, I'm not tired anyways." 

Genki shrugged. "But we beat the baddies, it's safe now." 

Galeon shook his head. "We beat some baddies, when those don't return to base they could send more." 

As he finished he stood and brushed himself off then disappeared into the shadows. 

Galeon wondered around the park for several minutes before finding himself beside a small fountain that bubbled water quietly. He sat down on the edge of it and gazed up at the stars. *Why did I throw myself in front of that blade earlier? I could've blocked it...but Holly might have gotten hurt-* "No, I am not going to let myself..." he shook his head as he mumbled quietly. *She is kind of cute though...* He kneeled down and splashed water in his face. *Snap out of it Galeon! You are not going to let love control your actions!* 

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Holly laid in her sleeping bag staring up at the sky, for some reason she couldn't get to sleep, she wasn't worried about her safety, nor the other. The scene with Galeon earlier kept playing in her head, she finally sat up and looked around, Galeon was no where to be found. She slowly crept out of her sleeping bag and looked around wandering for a few minutes before coming upon the fountain and Galeon standing leaning on the edge staring into it. 

Holly walked up beside Galeon and glanced at him, he was standing staring into the calm water deep in thought. She slowly moved her hand up and placed it on Galeon's shoulder causing him to jump. He quickly leapt back and stood gawking at her for a second. She smiled and looked down as she fiddled with the tail of her shirt. 

"I-I couldn't sleep, and I t-thought maybe we c-could talk..." She said as she fumbled the shirt tail through her fingers. 

Galeon felt a twinge of pain in his side and slid his hand down holding his stomach as he gulped. "Uh, um, s-sure..." He lifted his hand at it and saw the damp blood covering it, he looked down at his side in the faint moonlight, the dagger had hit him between the two plates and torn into his flesh. 

Holly looked at the cut and the blood soaked clothes and gasped. "You are hurt!" She ran over to him and kneeled down looking at the cut. 

Galeon shook his head. "It's not that bad, really." 

Holly wiggled her finger through the chain male touching the cut causing Galeon to cringe in pain. "Yes it is." She said as she stood up again. "Come on back to camp, I'll bandage it up." She took his hand in her's and led him back to camp. 

Galeon followed the girl letting her hold on to his hand causing him to blush, he hadn't had much experience with girls and didn't know what to do. 

Holly made him lay down on one of the closed sleeping bags as she looked at the place through his jumpsuit. "You'll have to- Um, take this off..." She blushed as she thought of what she was saying. 

Galeon blushed also as he unzipped the front of the suit and pulled it down off his arms and pulled it off his body down to his waist where he tucked it into the back. He laid down again as Holly looked down his body quickly finding the cut on the left side of his stomach but though she'd found it she froze in place, her eyes slowly moving up and down his body. He looked like he had been working out long and hard, his whole body seemed to be toned and bulging with muscles, she noticed he had several scars running across his chest and stomach either going down to his waist or up to his neck. She heard something and blinked then looked at him. 

"Something wrong?..." He repeated again. 

Holly gulped. "N-no...I just n-noticed your scars..." 

Galeon looked down at his chest. "Yeah, I've been hurt alot..." 

Holly took some bandages and a bottle from her knapsack and bandaged the wound quickly. 

After she was finished she stood up and looked at her work then wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt. "There, all done." 

Galeon sat up and looked at the bandage. "Uh, um...thank you..." 

Holly turned and looked at the rest of the group asleep in a circle around the fire. "Um, I'll g-go somewhere else if you'd like to change your clothes." 

Galeon shook his head. "No, that's ok, I'll just keep these on." 

"Oh...okay then." 

Galeon pulled the jumpsuit back onto himself then went and sat by the dying fire staring into it's vanishing embers. Holly sat down beside him and pulled her feet up beside herself propping herself up on her arm. 

"So..." 

"So..." Galeon repeated shortly after. 

Galeon sat staring into Holly's chocolate colored eyes, she was returning his stare as they sat waiting for nothing more than the morning to come. 

"So...where'd you come from?..." Holly said as she pulled a lock of brown hair from her face. 

Galeon sat and thought about the question for a moment. "This may sound crazy, but about 30 years ago I was living in another world...I won a tournament for a game called 'Monster Rancher 2' and they sent me a copy of their newest game...Well, after I got the game I was so happy and I sat down to play it. As soon as I turned it on and went through everything the game sucked me in. I landed in a shrine about a eighty and miles north of here." 

Holly gasped and looked at a sleeping Genki on the other side of the ashes from the earlier camp fire. "That's what Genki said happened to him!" 

Galeon cocked his head to the side then shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it's all one big conspiracy..." He yawned and stretched his arms, Holly following suite. "It's getting late thought." 

The two looked over as Cujo sat up and licked his chops then looked at Galeon. "I'll take the watch now, you get some sleep." 

Galeon nodded. 

Holly laid down to sleep on one side of the fire, Galeon on the other and the two laid thinking about each other until they drifted off to sleep. Cujo sat under a small tree nearby looking up at the stars. 

**

Chapter 2: How do _you_ define evil? 

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**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, the second is coming soon as I get it done. R&R if you want, I would just be happy to see people actually reading my work, no flames please, they'll just be something else I have to ignore. **


	2. Chapter 2: How do YOU define 'good'?

Monster Rancher The Dark Ones **

Here's chapter 2 of Monster Rancher: The Dark Ones 

** **

Chapter 2: How do _you_ define evil? 

**

Genki sat up and looked around, Galeon and Cujo were sitting beside the fire, Holly was already starting to cook breakfast, and Golem and Suezo had gone off to find some food. 

He yawned then got up stumbling around until he found the fountain and washed his face and hands then came and sat down beside the fire. 

Genki looked at Galeon. "Where are you going now?" 

Galeon looked at the boy and shrugged. "I don't know. We have what we came here for, I assume Mu has the TimeStone...so he's next." 

Genki looked a little shocked. "Y-you're going to fight Mu?..." 

Galeon nodded. "I think me, Cujo, Antares, and Daina could take him." 

"B-But you had a hard enough time against that Magic, Mu is much stronger." 

"And I also made a stupid mistake with that Magic, I will not do it again." 

"But Mu can break boulders with his fists!" 

Galeon shrugged. "And I could destroy a whole town in a matter of minutes, he is no stronger than us four." 

Genki looked at him in awe. "Y-You're t-that strong?..." 

"Yep, I am." Galeon said with a smirk. 

"Wow, look at him gloat." Cujo said as he sat down beside him. 

Galeon scowled at Cujo and crossed his arms as he looked that other way. 

After breakfast was done and they had eaten Genki sat wiping his mouth off. "Where to next Holly?" 

Holly held the Magic Stone up in her hands as she concentrated. After a few minutes a small yellow bird's silohoutte appeared in it then morphed into an arrow pointing to the northwest. 

"Hmm? What's that mean?" Galeon asked as he stared at the stone. 

"It's the magic stone, it's guiding us to the Phoenix!" Genki said as he pulled his skates on and pointed in the direction the magic stone had. 

"Hmm..." Galeon stood as he pulled on the last piece of his armor and attached his cloak to his chestplate letting it flow behind him like a cape. "Well then, I guess it's time to leave then." 

Genki jumped to his feet. "So you're coming with us?! Good! We need all the help we can get fighting against Mu!" 

Galeon nodded. "I owe him a visit anyway." 

Antares climbed to his feet as he pulled the saddle bags over his back. "Great, we can use some help too." 

Cujo stretched his front legs. "Whatever." 

"But wait, someone's missing." Hare said as he looked around. "Hmm...but who- Daina!" 

Galeon shrugged. "She'll find us eventually." 

"I don't know, maybe we should wait for her." Genki said as he used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked up at the ceiling of the old park. 

"She'll come back, she always does. She's either gone to train or is out looking for trouble." 

_**And so, the group set off in the new direction headed for an unknown destination heading wherever the magic stone guides them. **_

"I'm starving!" Suezo said as he fell down from exhaustion. "How long have we been walking?..." 

Genki walked on past the yellow monster gripping his stomach. "Ugh, I'm hungry too..." 

"Chi, I'm hungry too, chi." Mocchi added. 

"Gol, me too..." Golem said as he stopped and picked Suezo up in his hand. 

Tiger sighed. "If you don't think about it you won't be hungry." 

Holly looked back at the solemn Galeon and Cujo walking side by side. "Are you hungry?" 

Galeon nodded quietly. "A little." 

As they reached the top of another hill Genki looked up a tall tree to spy hundreds of juicy red apples. "Food!" he yelled as he ran to the tree and jumped onto the trunk trying to climb up it. 

The rest of the group soon caught up and also stood looking up as the boy made it half way to the branches then slid back down. "It's to high!" 

Antares looked at Galeon who stood looking up the tree. "Well?" 

Galeon looked at the centaur. "Well what?" 

"Aren't you going to get them?" 

Holly looked back at Galeon and Antares. "You could get them, couldn't you?" 

Galeon seemed to blush a little. "Y-yeah, I can get them, easily!" 

The boy walked over to the tree and pointed for Genki to get out of the way. 

Genki stepped back as Galeon drew his sword and sized the shot up. "Here it goes." He leapt into the air getting halfway up then dug his sword into the bark and hung onto it as he sized up the next jump. He leapt off the tree pulling his sword from it and flew upwards reaching the first branch. He stood on it looked around before leaping higher into the tree. 

"What's he doing?" Suezo asked as he moved in for a closer look. 

After a minute there was some loud cracking and branches full of apples began to fall from the tree. 

Suezo leapt back and forth dodging the falling timber. "Hey, watch it! You could put an eye out!" 

Holly walked over and picked one of the apples up and took a bite of it. She smiled and looked up the tree and waved. 

"These are good! Thank you!" 

Galeon looked down at her and blushed a little as he stuck his sword into the branch he was standing on and leaned on the hilt. "Well, it was nothing-" He was cut off by a cracking sound and looked down at the branch under his feet as it snapped off from the tree. "Wha?! Ahh!" 

With a crash the young swordsman fell to the ground along with the branch landing in a heap of wood, metal, and flesh. 

Holly gasped and ran over to him helping him sit up. 

Galeon sat rubbing his head for a minute before stumbling to his feet. 

"Are you okay?" Holly asked as she tried to help him steady himself. 

"Huh?" he blushed again. "Y-yeah! I'm okay, it'll take alot more than that to hurt me!" 

Holly smiled slightly. "Well, okay..." 

Galeon laughed nervously. 

The whole group sat down eating the fresh juicy apples. Galeon was sitting down the hill from them under a tree resting against it, Cujo sitting beside him. 

"What's gotten into you?" Cujo asked as he peered over at the boy. 

"What? What do you mean?..." Galeon said as he gulped nervously. 

"I mean, you've been acting clumsy, making mistakes, acting...weird, and...mumbling in your sleep." 

"What?! What did I say in my sleep!" 

Cujo smiled. "You said 'Holly'." 

Galeon's face paled and then redened. "W-What?!..." 

"That's what you said, do you like her or something?" 

"N-no, of course not-..." 

Cujo smiled slightly. "Well?" 

Galeon sighed as he looked down. "Okay...I do like her, since the first time I saw her I've liked her, that's why I threw myself in front of that Magic...I didn't want her to get hurt." 

Cujo snickered. "Galeon has a girlfriend, Galeon has a girlfriend-" 

Galeon backhanded the Terror Dog upside the head. "Shut up! Don't tell anyone about this." 

Galeon climbed to his feet, brushed himself off and walked off towards the others. Cujo sat smiling to himself as he looked down into the valley. 

Galeon sat down under a tree near where the rest of the group was finishing eating. He looked up to see Holly standing in front of him. She smiled and sat down on the grass beside him looking across the small grove at the others either eating, fighting over, or throwing away the apples. 

"So you're going to come with us..." She said as she looked at Galeon. 

"Yeah, I guess so..." Galeon replied. 

"That's good, we need all the help we can get finding the Phoenix." 

Holly pulled the magic stone out of her shirt and held it in her hands as she concentrated. 

Galeon watched as the bird formed inside the green stone again and turned this time facing to the west. 

"So Mu is that way?..." 

Holly shook her head and smiled at him. "No, the Phoenix is that way." 

"But why are we trying to find the Phoenix?..." 

Holly's face changed to a more serious look. "If we can unlock the Phoenix he will destroy and change all the baddies good again." 

Galeon nodded. "I see." 

A shadow suddenly loomed over the two causing them to look up to see Cujo standing in front of them. "Would you two love birds care to join us where we can get going?..." 

The boy and girl both blushed at the same time but didn't say anything as they simply climbed to their feet and followed the Terror Dog back to the group. 

"Okay, let's go!" Genki yelled as he pulled his skates on again and started off followed closely by Mocchi. 

"Is he on some kind of medication?" Daina said as she landed beside Galeon. 

"Daina, you're back..." Holly said as she looked over at the young Pixie monster. 

Daina nodded. "Yeah." 

"If we're going to follow the road west then we should find a town a few miles from here." Galeon said as he snapped the cloak onto his chestplate letting it flow behind him like a cape. 

"How do you know that?..." Holly said as she started to follow Suezo and Hare towards the road. 

"We came from that way." 

"Oh..." 

**_The group treks off again on the next leg of their journey on the quest to find the Phoenix so they can destroy Mu. _**

Genki fell to his knees looking foward on the road. "Augh, how much further? I'm starving..." 

Mocchi fell down beside him as Hare and Suezo walked by stopping in front of them. 

"If you wouldn't be in such a hurry you wouldn't expel as much energy." Cujo said as he walked by. 

"Try to not think about your hunger and you won't feel hungry." 

"There's a town not to far up the road from here." Daina said as she passed the two collapsed bodies. 

Genki jumped to his feet. "A town?! Food!" He jumped to the top of the hill the road went over and slid down the other side quickly followed by Mocchi, Suezo, and Hare. 

Daina moved over close to Galeon whispering to him. "Is this the town I think it is?" 

Galeon nodded. "Yep. Tell everyone to be on their guard, those guys aren't going to be to happy." 

They passed over the hill and could then see a small town in the distance, smoke came from the chimneys of many houses showing the families were home in the warmth of their homes. A small resteraunt, general store, and bar sat side by side near the center of town. 

As the remainder of the group finally caught up with Genki and the other three they found the boy standing in front of the restraunt about to die of joy. 

"A-A resteraunt...we'll finally get a good meal!" 

"Yeah!" Hare and Suezo yelled simutaneously. 

Genki, Hare, Suezo, and Mocchi ran as quickly into town as they could and soon stood staring up at the sign over the restraunt's door. 

When the others finally caught up they found the street empty, Genki and the monsters were already inside ordering. 

Tiger looked around to realize that everyone in the town seemed to be staring at them, out of windows, doors, or from around corners. "I don't like the look of this." 

"Do you think Mu could have control of this town?..." Holly said as she stepped back closer to Golem. 

"He could." Golem said as he looked back to see several men brandishing pitchforks and hoes. 

Genki came back out of the resteraunt and stood at the door. "Hey guys, come on in!" 

The owner of the place came to the window and looked out then immediatley forced the four monsters and boy out, locking the door behind them. 

"Hey, what the?!" Suezo yelled as he was shoved out the door. 

At the bar next door to the resteraunt several men came to the door and stepped out onto the porch. One of them in front had several bandages on his body. "So, you think that we'll forget what you did and let you come back here again after what you did?" 

Genki looked at the man. "Whaddya mean, we've never-" he was cut off by Galeon. 

"Do you think I give a damn if you do?" 

The man growled as he stepped forward followed by several other men holding knives or clubs. 

"Boy, you're gonna pay for what you did." The man charged forward toward Galeon who didn't move. 

"Who's going to make me?" The man tried to stop when he saw a flash of silver from under Galeon's cloak but his feet slid in the soft dirt and he ran straight into the boy. They were frozen in place for a few seconds, the man with a shocked look on his face leaning against Galeon's cloak. 

Galeon stepped back and let the man fall to the ground as he produced the bloody dagger from under his cloak and laughed. "Fool, who do you think you are?" Holly and Genki both gasped at the same time as blood trickled out from under the man's body. 

"Jason!" The other men seemed to yell simutaneously. 

Galeon stepped back and looked at his handiwork. "Really, for a grudge you sure didn't put up much of a fight." 

The man rolled over onto his back gripping his stomach. "I-I'll g-get you!" 

Galeon laughed as he threw the cloak off and stepped towards the man leaning over him putting the dagger to his throat. "That's a threat, I don't like threats, let's just make sure you can't carry it out." 

Galeon looked up to a 'whooshing' sound to see a huge gray fist come around into him. It struck him across his upper body and sent him flying back into the building across the street's porch collapsing it and the front wall onto him. 

Golem looked down at the man under him. "Are you okay, gol?" 

The man nodded painfully. "Yeah..." 

Across the street the rubble fell forwards as Galeon stood from under it, blood trickled down his forehead into his eyes from a cut on top of his head as he stepped forward onto the soft ground. He drew his sword and looked at Golem as he took a stance to strike from. 

Galeon leapt forward to see Holly step in his way. He stopped midstride looking at her. She had her eyes closed with a scared look on her face afraid he would hit her. "S-Stop!" She yelled as Galeon came to a halt in front of her. He stood looking at her for a minute as she opened her eyes. 

He looked into her eyes, they had tears welling up in them, she didn't want to see anything happen to her friends. Or anyone else. 

Galeon wanted to knock her aside and resume his attack but as he looked into her eyes something grabbed him and wouldn't let him do it. He looked away as he resheathed his sword and crossed his arms. 

By that time Genki and Hare were both leaning over the wounded man. 

"Please, let us help you, it's all we can do." Genki said as he kneeled beside the man. 

Jason sat up and pushed Genki away. "Never, I'll never let any friends of this, this monster help me." 

He struggled to get to his feet and limped back over to where the other men were standing, one of them helped him inside while the others stood their ground. "Leave now." One of them said. 

Genki nodded. "Come on guys, let's go." 

The others nodded and followed Genki out of town. 

"Why'd you have to do that?" Genki asked as he hung back to keep pace with Galeon. 

Galeon didn't answer. He was walking with his head down and his eyes closed occasionaly glancing up at the path ahead. 

"Why'd you do that?" Genki repeated. 

Galeon didn't respond once again and kept walking. 

"Well?" Genki said as he jumped in front of the boy causing him to stop. 

Galeon looked back down at the younger boy and then up at the people still walking in front of them, and Holly. He shook his head then stepped around Genki and resumed his slow, silent pace. 

Genki sighed and moved on up to the front of the group again. 

\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/`\'/ 

Tiger looked up at the cliffs on either side of them, they were walking down the middle of a sandy ravine, the last trees, live trees atleast, they had seen were several miles back. 

"This looks like a place for Mu to ambush us from..." 

Several small rocks rolled down the cliff face landing in front of the group. 

"Tiger, I wish you hadn't said that." Genki said as he looked up the cliff walls. 

Several green heads poked over the edge looking down at them. "I-It's an attack!" Suezo yelled as the Dinos slid down the walls of the cliffs closing in on them. 

"Perfect timing!" Hare said as he backed up towards the middle of the group. 

A Salamander swooped down and grabbed Holly throwing her to the ground and ripping the magic stone from the necklace at the same time. 

"Holly!" Genki yelled as he leapt at the Salamander who knocked him away easily. 

The Salamander then turned and flew down the ravine. 

"You go get the magic stone back, I'll hold the Dinos off!" Galeon said as he unsheathed his sword. 

"But there are to many of them!" Genki said as he skated over to Galeon's side. 

"You forget my power!" Galeon yelled as he leapt into the Dinos cutting and chopping with his sword felling several of them. 

Holly looked back at Galeon as she turned "Good luck!". Galeon looked back at her and the look in his eyes told her she wouldn't be seeing him again. Holly tried to stop as Golem picked her up in his arms carrying her as Tiger and Hare ran after the rest of the group. 

|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/| 

After a half hour of following and tracking the Salamander the group had finally caught up with it and Daina and Tiger cornered and killed it. Holly had gotten the Magic Stone back and they realized they had left Galeon along with a horde of Dinos and were quickly on their way back. 

(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)=(-)

As they drew closer the ground began to have a distinct black charred look to it, they noticed some rocks were now laying in the ravine from the cliff above and when they turned the next corner it looked like a full scale warzone. 

Holly and Genki along with Hare and Mocchi looked shocked as they saw all of the lost disks standing in the ravine, a few on the rocks, some were piled on top of others, and in the middle of it back against the cliff wall was Galeon. 

Holly and Genki both rushed to him as Holly kneeled down beside him and touched him. "Galeon?..." She said as she touched his shoulder. She cried out as he looked up at her weakly and then fell onto his side. Genki grabbed his feet and dragged him away from the wall laying him out flat on his back. 

Holly sat on her knees cradling his head in her lap, Galeon looked up at her, his eyes were glazed over as he blankly stared at her. Holly returned the stare, she looked deep into his eyes, there was no feeling in them, he was nearly dying. Holly didn't know why but her eyes filled with tears causing them to quickly run down her cheeks, she would of cried had it been anyone else also but for some reason she felt hurt even more inside. 

Genki looked around. "Hey, where'd Antares go? He's got the first aid bag doesn't he?!" 

Tiger nodded. "Last time I saw him was right after we killed that Salamader, he didn't look so good..." 

"What?!" Genki yelled and then looked up as a clacking sound rounded the corner, it was Antares, but he indeed did not look good, his shell was a very pale red color except for around his mandible like mouth. He didn't have his staff and he got to where Golem was standing and dropped the bag beside the monster. 

"I know...this is...a bad time...but I...have to...go..." Antares said as he started to turn back down the ravine. 

"What?! We need you _here_ Antares!" Genki yelled as he jumped to his feet. "You look sick, you need help too." 

"I'm not sick!" Antares snapped at the boy and then galoped off around the corner. 

Holly looked back down at Galeon as he arched his back and clenched his teeth together. After the spasm he started to cough causing blood to run down his cheek and chin. 

"Don't worry, we're gonna help you." Holly said soothingly. 

Galeon looked up at her as his breathing started to quicken and become shallower indication early shock. 

"Gali, don't worry..." She said as tears dripped from her eyes falling onto his forehead. 

Galeon clenched his teeth together as he looked up at her, she cared about him, she deeply cared about him. He thought back to all the cruel and evil things he had done, it made him feel even worse inside his ravaged body. He just wanted to die, he didn't want help. He wanted to be put out of his misery for all the cruel things he had done. 

Galeon sat up as he squirmed to pull himself to his feet. He stumbled around on his weak legs trying to stand. "I-I-I'm o-okay." He said as he straightened his stance shaking and shivering. 

Holly jumped up and went over to him as she helped him steady himself. "Galeon, please don't lie, you're dying, you need help." She said between her sobs. 

Galeon grunted as his body gave in and he fell to his knees as he coughed up more blood and fell forward blacking out. 

Genki had retrieved the saddle bags and had the medical supplies strewn out on the ground. "We've gotta get that armor off of him." Genki said as he rolled Galeon onto his back and unbuckled one of the leggings. 

Galeon looked up at Holly one last time as his world went black and his head fell to the side. Holly gasped but was slightly relieved to find he was still breathing lightly. 

**

**Coming Soon** 

** **

Chapter 3: Don't cross the Antares!" 

** **Hope you liked the second chapter of my fic, the third is coming soon. Don't you just hate cliffhangers? **


	3. Chapter 3: Don't cross the Antares!

Monster Rancher: The Dark Ones

**Chapter 3: Don't cross the Antares!**

Galeon opened his eyes slightly and tried to look around, he was wrapped tightly in a sleeping bag and was laying beside a brightly buring fire. He tried to sit up but couldn't because of a weight on his chest. He looked around to see Genki sleeping sitting up between Hare and Mocchi who were leaning against him and behind them was Suezo. He looked up to see Cujo and Tiger sitting watching the fire behind him and Golem sitting asleep, Daina was back and sitting between the lupines and the golem. 

Galeon stretched his neck and looked down to realize that weight on his chest was Holly who had fell asleep while kneeling beside him. He blushed wondering why she would've cared that much about him. He pulled his arms out of the sleeping bag and sat up looking down at her letting her head, arms, and uppers body rest in his lap. 

He looked back at Cujo he was now watching him and simply nodded. "How long have I been out?" Galeon said as he looked back down at the young girl asleep in his arms. 

"Nearly three days." Cujo replied. 

Galeon looked around "Where are we?" 

"A pretty good ways away from that valley. We stopped not three hours ago, everyone was tired." 

Tiger got up and walked over looking at Holly and Galeon. "We were attacked during your, rest let us say, but it wasn't bad." 

Galeon nodded "Good." He looked around the camp site and spotted something that made him a little angry, a few meters away where the gulley they were sitting in had washed out a tree stood on the edge with roots sticking out of the ground and running the length of the three foot drop to the ground, behind the roots laid Antares on his knees sitting motionless, his whole shell was snow white, even over his eyes, with hints of red where the plates joined. 

"Why are we near him?..." 

Tiger shook his head. "Genki wanted to come find him, he was worried, but we can't wake him." 

Cujo sighed. "He's gonna wake up soon enough, and I'm leaving when he does." 

"Ditto to that." Daina chimed in. 

"That boy has to learn the meaning of 'no'." 

Genki nodded forward nearly falling over before waking up to stop himself. "Galeon? You're awake-" 

"Shh!" Galeon hissed at him as he put a finger to his lips and then pointed down at Holly. 

Genki smiled and then stood up laughing lightly causing the three monsters that were leaning against him to fall into a heap still asleep. 

Galeon's face turned red as he looked back over at Antares. "Why did we have to go find him?!" 

"He looked sick when he left..." Genki said. "We need to help him..." 

"He doesn't need help! He's molting!" 

"Molting?..." Genki said as he scratched his head. 

Galeon looked down as Holly stirred and stretched her arms as she looked into the fire. She then sat up and looked at him and blushed brightly. "Oh, I-I'm sorry..." 

Galeon returned the blush. "I-It's okay..." 

She smiled and looked down his body. "Y-You um, feeling better..." She said as she quickly looked down at her lap. 

Galeon nodded. "Yeah, much..." He then realized that he only had his boxer shorts on and blushed brighter as he grabbed the sleeping bag pulling it around his waist. 

Genki looked over at the tree roots in front of Antares as the monster stirred and slid out from under them. 

Cujo and Daina both jumped to their feet. "I'm out of here." Cujo said as he turned to run. Galeon and Daina both looked around the group. "Everyone be quiet, he can't see right now, don't let him know we're here." Galeon said as he climbed to his feet holding the sleeping bag around himself. 

Genki didn't register the words and started towards Antares. "Hey-" 

Daina leapt forward and grabbed the boy holding him down muffling his mouth. "Don't say anything, we have to get out of here now." She said as quietly as possible. 

Daina looked up to see Mocchi a few feet from Antares and leapt forward grabbing the small monster and tossing him into Genki leaving them in a pile on the ground. 

Antares couldn't see, or even hear very well at that point. He stood in a cleared off spot for a second breathing heavily and then reached up grabbing his head as he let out a spine chilling screech. He shook his body violently and let out another screech as the plates of armor fell off. He picked off the remaing ones leaving only the one on his head and around his waist. He quickly pulled off the waist plate and reached up tearing at the back of the plate that fitted over his arrow shaped head. He soon found the spot and pulled it off to reveal the last of a now bright red shell. 

Genki leapt to his feet and ran over to Antares standing in front of him. "Cool! You got a new shell!" He yelled as he stared at the monster in awe. 

Antares stood staring at the boy for a second. Genki looked back at the rest of the group, Galeon, Daina, and Cujo all had slightly scared looks on their faces. He then looked back at Antares who was looking at the rest of the group. "What's wrong?..." Genki asked as he stepped towards the monster. 

Antares suddenly yelled out and reared up on his hind legs kicking Genki to the ground hard as he screeched. Galeon leapt from the sleeping bag as Anatares was about to trample the boy and caught him trying to push him back. 

"I knew he couldn't be trusted!" Hare yelled as he leapt towards the monster "Dragon Kick!" 

He slammed into Antares knocking him back just to be kicked to the ground as Antares held out his hand with the palm facing Hare "Energy Shot!" Antares yelled as a white ball of energy shot from his hand hitting Hare sending him flying. 

Tiger leapt up above the monster looking down on him. "Torpedo attack!" Two balls of lightning bolted from his horns hitting the monster causing him to back down a little and cower slightly as smoke rolled off his shell, but he quickly recovered and countered with Energy Shot again. 

Genki was on his feet by then. "Antares stop, please!" 

Antares reared up once more to trample the boy as Galeon leapt in and grabbed Antares pushing him back again who countered by turning and kicking with his powerful hind legs. Galeon was sent flying as Antares leapt up out of the gulley they were in and galoped off through the woods. 

Hare jumped up and grabbed Galeon by the throat holding him up. "What was that?!" 

Galeon grunted and looked at him. "What do you mean?!" 

"I mean turning him on us!" Hare said. 

"Yeah, I knew we couldn't trust them." Suezo added. 

Galeon knocked Hare back and kicked him sending him to the ground. "I didn't turn him against you, you're the idiots that decided to go find an Antares while it was molting!" 

"Molting or not he's still dangerous!" 

"If you knew anything you would know that Arrowheads and Antares alike take their molting time as a time to be alone, it hurts like hell when they molt and they would _love_ to have something to kick around to draw from the pain, try not to let that be you. On top of that they feel very vulnerable and _are_, they would want to get rid of anything that could threaten them before it does." Daina said as she sat down by the fire again. 

"You call _that_ vulnerable?!" Suezo said as he dropped himself on the opposite side of the fire from Daina. 

"Will he be back?..." Genki said as he climbed to his feet and brushed himself off. 

"Yes, he'll be back soon enough." Galeon said as he grabbed his clean jumpsuit out of his backpack. 

"He _won't_ come back if he knows what's good for him." Hare said as he crossed his arms and laughed. 

"Oh and why's that?..." Cujo said. 

"Because, if he did I'd kick his butt!" Hare said as he laughed again. "I was going easy on him, I only used half my strength." 

Tiger laughed. "Think about it Hare, he was at a fraction of his normal power and he knocked you away like a fly." 

"'Er, uh..." Hare dropped down to the ground. "Exactly how strong _is_ Antares at full power?..." 

"Strong enough that even Galeon's scared of him." Cujo chimed in. 

Galeon glared at the Terror Dog as he zipped his jumpsuit up. "And you aren't?" 

"Did I ever say I wasn't?" Cujo replied. 

"So the guy that took on a horde of Dinos is a scared of one little Centaur?..." Suezo added. 

Galeon scowled at him. "The Dinos are much weaker than Antares, if you manage to get Antares truly angry at you he's going to kill you." 

"So you haven't made him mad?" 

"Oh no, I said he would kill _you_." Galeon turned his head to the side and tilted it back a little pointing to a scar that ran almost from his jaw down to under his clothes. "That scar runs from my jaw to my waist, and he did that in one swipe, _through my armor_." 

Suezo looked a little shocked. "Ouch..." he mumbled as he shifted a pebble around the ground in a circle with his tail. 

Galeon climbed up out of the gulley and sat down leaning back against the tree Antares had been resting under. He sighed and thought back over the last few moments, he wondered if he should keep going with them, they had already caused some pretty bad trouble to what he had wanted to happen. 

He looked up quickly as Holly stood with her hand on the tree looking down at him. "Mind if I-I sit here?..." 

Galeon shook his head as he looked forward again. 

Holly sighed and sat down leaning back against the tree, her arm touching his lightly. 

Galeon blushed lightly at the touch. He could feel it through his chain mael, his whole body felt like it heated up. 

Holly sat looking down at the ground infront of her. She looked up at Galeon who was sitting quietly, he looked stern and cold. She sighed and looked at him again. 

Galeon wanted to say something but out of all things, he didn't have the courage to. 

Holly looked down at her lap and sighed. *I've got to say something...but what?...I just wish...I wish...I wish that he'd put his arm around me...I feel cold...but why do I feel like this?...Am I, lonely?...* She shook her head lightly as she looked at the ground infront of her knees. *No...I've got lots of friends...Genki, Hare, Tiger, Suezo, Mocchi...* 

Holly looked over at Galeon, he was still sitting quietly. Galeon glanced over at her as a small smirk crossed his face. 

Holly blushed slightly and quickly averted her glance. 

Holly looked up at the sound of light chuckling to see Galeon leaning back against the tree with his eyes closed, smiling. 

"What's so funny?..." She asked as she leaned back against the tree. 

Galeon glanced over at her. "Oh, I don't know..." 

Holly leaned closer. "I can always give you something to laugh about..." 

Galeon blushed crimson. "'Er, um, uh, I-..." he felt his heart jump into his throat choking his words out. 

Holly slid her hand up to his side causing him to blush even more. She suddenly ran her fingers up his side causing him to shiver. 

Galeon choked up again. 

Holly smiled. "What'd you think I was gonna do?..." 

Galeon blushed even brighter as he looked down at his lap. "I-I don't know..." 

Holly giggled and looked up at the sky. The two suddenly became solemn. "Galeon?..." 

"Hmm?" 

"Do you ever think about...death?" 

Galeon nodded. "Occasionaly...especially since I've been fighting Mu." 

"How long do you think you'll live?" 

Galeon shrugged. "I expect atleast until I'm twenty, so I've got another five years." 

Holly sighed and looked down at her lap. "I, for one, hope you don't die before then, or anywhere near then." 

Galeon looked at her a little shocked. She was sitting looking back at him with a hurt look on her face. 

He looked back into the darkness of the evening forest. Galeon sat thinking for a second until he sighed and began. "Why do you care?...No one else does...Including myself. If I died tomorrow Antares, Daina, and Cujo would bury me, they'd go on looking for the Time Stone and kill Mu and then take the stone back to Colt..." 

Holly's face contorted slightly into a sad, depressed look as tears welled up in her eyes. "Galeon please don't die...please...please..." She said between sobs as she leaned against him. 

Galeon felt his heart drop, he felt just like he did when he saw her leaning over him crying before. He had always been cold hearted and tough, but for some reason now he felt like he was going to cry himself at that point he wished he would've died instead of woken up. 

He looked down at the brunette girl that he had liked ever since he had met, the one that was now leaning against him crying because she didn't want him to die. 

Galeon put his finger under Holly's chin liften her gaze up to meet his. "Shh...don't cry...I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He smiled slightly as he whispered to her. 

Holly nodded slightly as she locked her gaze onto his, not wanting to break it. She reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks and eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. 

Holly shifted how she was seated slightly and rose up towards Galeon slowly. 

Galeon was slowly bending over towards her, he didn't know why, it just felt like he was supposed to do it. 

Their faces were only inches apart, Galeon stared into the beautiful brown eyes of the girl before him. He thought about what was going to happen if they kept this up and quickly looked to the side. 

Holly moved back a little as she did a sudden chill washed over her causing her to shiver. She looked up at Galeon who was looking back at her. She looked back down at the ground and sighed to herself 

Galeon looked up to a shadow blocking the moon from their view. 

"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Genki said as he stopped and stood looking down at them. 

The two teens both looked up at the boy. "Just talking..." they said simutenously 

"You gonna come eat?..." Genki said as he scratched his head. 

Holly looked up at the sky, the moon was fairly high. "Oh my...it's late isn't?...And I haven't even started-" 

Genki smiled. "Don't worry, you don't have to cook dinner, Daina did." 

Holly looked at Galeon. "She did?..." 

Galeon smiled nervously. "Yeah...her and Antares kind of know how to cook..." 

"Oh...You taught them?" 

Galeon laughed lightly "Um...no...Colt did...she taught them alot of things..." 

"Oh..." 

Holly looked back down at her lap as her face darkened. Something had dawned on her. 

"Hey guys, I'm still here!" Genki yelled as he waved his arms. 

The two looked up at the boy. "What?..." they both said at the same time. 

"Are you gonna come eat dinner or not?" 

Holly nodded quietly and got to her feet looking down at Galeon quickly before going back into the light of the camp fire. Followed closely by Genki. 

Galeon sat for a moment looking at the sky and then got up and slid down into the gulley and went over and sat down near the fire. 

Holly sat looking down at the bowl of stew she was holding in her lap as she thought back to what Galeon had said earlier. She knew she was being paranoid, yet, she knew it was possible, Colt and Galeon could have been together. 

"Something wrong, Holly?" Genki questioned as he sat down beside her. 

Holly glanced over at the boy and then back at her lap. "N-No..." 

"Aw, come on Holly, you can tell us, we're your friends." 

"N-No Genki...it's nothing...really..." 

"Aw, come on Holly-" 

"Genki, she said she there's nothing wrong, leave her alone." 

Genki looked up at Galeon who was sitting across from them. 

"Okay...sorry..." Genki turned and faced away from the fire. 

Holly looked at Galeon and blushed lightly when she saw he was looking back at her. 

Daina sat down beside Galeon and looked at him for a minute. Galeon finally turned and looked at her. "What?..." 

"Are you going to give them it or not?..." 

Galeon growled "I told you not to read my thougths..." 

Daina giggled "Oh, but you have such interesting thoughts." She looked at Holly and smiled causing Galeon to blush. 

"So, are you going to give them the Manastones?" 

Galeon sighed "I guess so..." 

Genki came over to him. "What?..." 

Galeon sighed as he held up a small brown pouch. "If I'm going to be helping you I might as well help as much as possible, there are seven stones that I got from that Magic, these are the Manastones I was talking about, they'll give you access to alot of power, and it'll make it alot easier to fight." He poured the bag into his hand and looked across at Holly who was sitting watching him. "I want each of you to have one." He said as he held them out for Genki to take. 

Genki took the Manastones looking at them sitting in the palm of his hand. 

"Just keep them somewhere on your body, they should turn blue after a few minutes." Galeon said as he shifted his sitting position. 

Genki sat down with the stones and some old vines and after a few minutes produced the set of stones in a necklace hanging from the small vines. He tossed one to each monster who put it around their neck. 

After a few minutes Tiger looked down as his began to glow blue, nearly as bright as his fur. 

Mocchi and Golem both saw the same thing. 

Genki saw his stone turn blue, Holly did also. 

"Hey, what's wrong with this thing?!" Suezo yelled as he looked at his. "It turned yellow!" 

Cujo laughed slyly. "It shows you have cowardice in your heart." 

"I'll show you cowardice!" Suezo said as he picked up a rock with his tongue and flung it at Cujo. 

Cujo leapt over the rock and onto the other monster pinning him growling. 

"Quit it you two...you act like you were just unlocked." Daina said as she looked up from the fire. 

"Hey! Mine turned green!" Hare yelled as he threw the stone on the ground. "Something weird is going on here..." 

"It means greed, Hare." Galeon ran his fingers along the shoulder plate of his armor sitting beside him. "Your heart isn't pure." 

"Oh, and like your's is Mr. Darkness!" 

Galeon looked up at the jack rabbit. "Let me rephrase that, the brightness of the glow and black wisps in the stone determine the purity of your heart, the color shows the mind set." 

Hare sat down once more grumbling to himself. 

"I don't feel any different..." Tiger looked down at the stone hanging from his neck. 

"You won't...but you'll be able to tell the difference in a fight. You'll be moving alot quicker and will have alot more power now." 

Holly sighed as she set running her fingers over the stone as she thought back to earlier. *He kept mentioning Colt...I guess...she was the one for him...* 

**_The night quietly deepened as sleep set in on the Rebels, the group beded down and the morning came quietly. _******

End Chapter

**COMING SOON** 

Chapter 4: Tiger vs. Cujo? 

**_Chapter 3 now up, Chapter 4, on it's way (Title easily subject to change). This chapter is now in it's full version, and I'm working on Chapter 4 now...and yes, I know what you're saying, _****Oh my God Storm's writing romance!**...well, so what? I'll admit I _do_ enjoy it... 'till next time, cya.-LtStorm 


	4. Chapter 4: Shady Shellfish (Part 1)

**_Gomen, I got wrapped up in alot of other things while writing this chapter, it's finally out like over a month since the last chapter was finished, again, gomen. Anyway, I think this one was okay, it was a direct adaption off one of the episodes, the next chapter will finish it up. I thought this would only be one chapter, but I had 21 pages when I was done so I just split it up the middle and made two chapters. On to the usual, I do not own Monster Rancher, Monster Rancher 2, they are owned by Tecmo and other companies. I DO on the other hand own Galeon, so back off!_**

**Monster Rancher: The Dark Ones**

**Chapter 4: Shady Shellfish (Part 1)**

Holly sat up and stretched her arms, it was hardly light, still a ways from dawn. She looked at the freshly started fire and at Galeon sitting across from her. He quickly looked away blushing lightly. 

Holly slid over closer to the fire to warm herself looking at Galeon as she did. 

A cold wind blew quietly through the crisp morning air causing Holly to shiver and wrap her arms around herself. She slid closer to the fire as she glanced up at Galeon again. 

Galeon was sitting watching her trying not to let her catch him. He quickly looked away as she caught his glance and began stoking the fire with a stick. 

Holly pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she began to doze off again, shivering occasionally. 

Holly jumped a little as she felt something fall around her shoulders. She looked down at the black cloak draped around her shoulders and then back at Galeon who was walking off. 

She sighed and bundled up in the cloak as she slowly fell back asleep. 

|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|\|\|/|

Genki sat up and looked around, Holly was sitting by the fire wrapped in Galeon's cloak asleep. He pulled himself out of his sleeping bag causing Mocchi to wake up and pull the sleeping bag back shut as Genki got out. 

Genki stood looking at the sleeping Holly for a minute before realizing where she had got the cloak from. He watched as she smiled contently and sighed in her sleep. Genki clutched his fist tightly as a new emotion washed over him. He looked around and dropped himself by the fire as he grumbled. 

Holly began to dream about years ago as her smile faded to a frown, she dreamt about her mother and father, she moved a little as she remembered the horror of watching her mother die and then remembering what she had seen the weeks before on Mu's floating castle. Tears began to form in her eyes as she woke suddenly. 

Holly jumped to her feet looking around quickly. She glanced around at the others sleeping and Genki and Tiger sitting by the fire. 

"What's wrong?" Genki said as he looked up at the girl. 

Holly sighed and dropped the cloak from around her shoulders as she turned walking off as tears came to her eyes again. 

"Holly?..." Genki got up and started to follow her as something caught his heel tripping him. 

Genki fell on his face and rolled over jumping to his feet. "Hey, what's the big idea?!" 

Tiger shook his head. "Let her go..." 

Genki glanced back as Holly disappeared into the forest. "She looked like she was gonna cry." 

Tiger nodded. "She wants to be alone..." 

"Well, if something is bugging her she should talk to us..." 

"If she wanted to talk to you she would..." 

"Well, she needs to let it out, she doens't need to keep it bottled up inside..." 

Tiger sighed. "Well, crying is a way of getting it out. And she'd have an easier time talking to someone that's been through what she's been through." Tiger looked back as Galeon stepped through the underbrush back into the camp. 

Genki looked back at him also. "Why would she talk to him?..." 

"I didn't say she would." 

"But we don't even know why he's such a bastard..." 

Galeon sat down beside the fire looking at the boy and monster. 

Genki sighed and dropped himself onto the ground beside the fire. 

"Galeon?" 

Galeon looked up from the fire. "What?" 

"Why are you so mean?" 

Tiger dropped his head. "Genki, don't go there..." he sighed. 

Galeon sighed. "I'm not explaining it now... I'll tell you later, if you can handle it." 

Genki scowled. "Hey! I was just asking!" 

"Atleast you're blatant with what you want to know..." Tiger said as he layed down. 

Holly pushed her way through the underbrush back into camp, after wandering for a minute clearing her mind, and finding a place to relieve herself, she had found her way back into the clearing and stood looking at the others. 

"Good morning." Tiger and Genki said in unison. 

Holly smiled weakly. "Good morning Tiger, good morning Genki..." 

Galeon sat looking up at her. "Good morning..." He finally answered. 

Genki climbed to his feet. "Time to wake up!" He said loudly as he went around tapping the sleeping monsters to wake them. "It's almost breakfast time!" Genki looked back at Holly. "Isn't it?" 

Holly sighed and shook her head slowly. "I'm afraid we're out of food..." 

"Wha?! But how?!" 

"We ran out quicker because we had more mouthes to feed..." 

Genki looked at Galeon. "Ooh, you ate all our food!" 

"I ate all your food?! That's hardly payback for saving your ass!" Galeon yelled as he jumped to his feet. 

"Ha! We could've made it!" 

Mocchi got up and stood beside Genki "Please stop fighting, chi!" 

"Mocchi, stay out of this!" Genki pushed the little monster back some with his foot. 

Mocchi sat down beside the fire and began to cry as the two kept argueing. 

Holly kneeled down hugging the little monster. "Don't cry Mocchi." 

Galeon glanced down at the teenage girl and turned his back on Genki crossing his arms. 

Genki did the same, sticking his tongue out as he did. 

Hare yawned and walked over looking down into the next valley a little ways down the path. "We might as well get going then. Where to Holly?" 

Holly climbed to her feet and pulled the Magic Stone from her shirt holding it in her hands as she concentrated. "Um." The silohoutte of the bird appeared and morphed into the arrow point off to the south. "That way." 

Hare looked up. "Straight down the path then..." 

Cujo shook himself straightening his fur from sleeping. "Where will that take us, Daina?" 

The Pixie hybrid rummaged through her backpack finally pulling a map out looking at it. "If we keep going that way we'll hit the ocean in about...A few hours..." 

"Gol, Golem not like water..." 

"We won't be going in the water." Hare said as he walked past the monster to gather up his things. 

"Gol, okay." 

Suezo grumbled. "Another day of walking...Perfect..." 

"Well, maybe you'd like to teleport us there." Hare said with a glint in his eye. 

Suezo jumped up and down. "Yeah, I could!" He concentrated for a second. "Come on, come on..." He then sighed. "I can't..." 

Hare shrugged. "Oh well." 

The group packed their things as they got ready for the day's journey to the ocean. 

Golem picked up the set of saddle bags Antares had left and slung them over his shoulder. "Gol, they have rocks at ocean?" 

Suezo nodded. "Yep, they have a ton of stuff, albeit we can find a town even!" 

Genki finally gave up his cold shoulder and went about putting his sleeping bag up and caught up with the others a ways down the path. 

As the Rebels moved Galeon seemed to make it a point to stay to Holly's back right. He watched every move she made with a kind of enjoyment. 

Genki had noticed him and trudged along grumbling to himself not even noticing he was starving. 

They had been walking for several hours and it was nearly lunch time, they had managed to find a small stream and a few fish to eat before moving on still feeling empty. 

After a few more minutes Cujo and Tiger both began sniffing the air around them. 

"Hmm? What?" Suezo walked past them up the path. 

Tiger smiled. "I can smell the ocean." 

"Me too." Cujo added. 

As they came to the next valley they looked down to see out over the ocean and then slowly made their ways down to it. 

Holly stood on the edge of the dropoff that lead down to the beach looking over the beautiful scenery. She smiled weakly and sighed taking in the scene as much as she could until finally being talked into moving by Genki who wanted to get to the beach. 

Golem picked Suezo and Holly up in his hands as he slid down the slope hitting the sand with a thud. 

The others quickly followed and stood looking around listening quietly to an approaching whistling. 

A Niton rounded the corner and stood looking at them for a second before his face was gripped with greed and he ran to them. 

"Well, what do we have here? Travelers huh? Albeit you can use some supplies." 

Genki looked at him a second. "Well, yeah..." 

The monster laughed. "But of course, the name's Pirrateu, and I have everything you need right here!" He worked his tentacles for a second and pulled a pack off his back that he layed out on the sand showing everything he had. 

Pirrateu looked around at all of them smiling. "Whatever you need, pick something out." He looked at Suezo and smiled picking a purple cylinder up in his tentacle and sliding over to him. "Hey buddy, I bet you could use this, you can see practically anywhere with it!" 

Suezo took the object in his tongue looking at it. "Wow, a real spy glass, I bet I could!" 

The Niton grabbed a red fold off the mat and skittered next to Mocchi holding it out whispering. "Hey, just between you and me, this is a magic flying cape, anyone who wears it can fly!" 

Mocchi smiled taking it and putting it on himself. "Chi, wow, chi!" 

Pirrateu looked at Holly and grabbed a cooking pot. "Here little lady, this pot is rust proof, dent proof, stick proof, and everything else, it makes everything taste better!" He put it in her hands and looked across the others. 

"Hmm." He grabbed a vanity mirror and jumped over to Daina. "Whaddya think of this? Pretty good, huh?" 

Daina took the mirror looking at herself in it and smiled. 

Pirrateu noticed the rollerblades on Genki's backpack and smiled. He grabbed an oil can off the mat and went to Genki. "Here ya' go, this'll help!" He squirted a little oil on one of the wheels of the skate and spun it listening to the sleek sound it made. 

"Wow! Cool!" Genki smiled taking the can. 

Pirrateu went back across the mat grabbing a small bag and leapt up on Golem's shoulder. "Hey bud, I bet you eat rocks, right?" 

Golem nodded. "Yeah, gol." 

The Niton held the small bag up. "Well, this here is the best white sand seasoning you can get, straight from the shores of Ikawa." 

Golem took the bag between his fingers. "Gol, thanks." 

Pirrateu hopped back down hardly stopping. He looked at Cujo, Tiger, and Galeon standing a ways off watching him and grabbed a can making his way over to Tiger. 

"Hmm, looks pretty bad." 

Tiger raised an eyebrow at him. "What does?..." 

"Your tail! Look at these split ends, but not to worry, I have just the thing!" He said opening the can. Pirrateu spread a little on Tiger's tail before being knocked away. 

"Hey! Who said you could touch me?" 

"Whoa, easy champ, I'm just tryin' to help, look at your tail now." 

Tiger moved his tail around so he could see it and smiled at the shine his fur had. 

Pirrateu looked at Galeon and thought for a second then noticing his sword. The monster scuttled back over to the mat grabbing a sheathed sword and made his way back to Galeon. 

"Hey, nice sword. But I bet you'd like a new sharper one, wouldn't ya'?" Pirrateu reached up to take Galeon's sword and recoiled into his shell as he was kicked away. 

Pirrateu popped out of his shell when he stopped rolling. "Hey! I'm just trying to help you!" 

Galeon shook his head. "I don't care if the others want to buy from a Shady Shellfish, I'm not." 

Genki shrugged. "Come on, are you paranoid or something? There's nothing wrong." 

Galeon growled. "I'm sure there isn't." 

Genki laughed. "Quit being such a wet blanket." 

Galeon scowled. 

Holly looked over at Hare. "Do we even have enough for this stuff?..." 

Hare shrugged pulling out his abacus. "Hmm, let me see." 

Pirrateu shook the kick off and smiled seeing Hare. He picked up a brown square and went over looking over Hare's shoulder. 

"What?" Hare said as he stopped. 

"Oh, nothing. I see you have an abacus, huh?" 

"Yeah, so?" 

"I used to, but then I gave mine up for this. A real calculator, fully functional." 

"Wha?!" Hare stared at it. "Wow...I gotta have that." 

Pirrateu smirked and handed it to him as looked up at Holly and almost began to drool when the the jewl encrusted dagger hanging from the strap around her neck caught his eye. 

Hare sighed dropping his arms to his side. "We don't have anywhere near enough." 

Pirrateu smiled. "Well, we may have a deal, I'll give you all this stuff for _that_ dagger." 

Holly looked down at the sheath hanging from it's strap. "B-But it was my fathers..." 

Pirrateu shrugged. "And it looks like it may be worth just enough to buy all this stuff." 

Genki shook his head. "No way, that's gonna help us find the Phoenix." 

Pirrateu looked at him. "Huh? Phoenix?" 

"Yeah, the Legendary Phoenix's Mystery Disk." Genki said as he shrugged. 

Pirrateu thought for a second and flinched. He pulled back into his shell and popped out with a red-brown disk smiling. "You mean _this_?" 

Holly gasped. "Tha-That's the P-Phoenix?!" 

Pirrateu smiled and nodded. "Yep, yep, it is, I had a long hard fight trying to get this from the, uh, Kawrea Volcanoe." 

Galeon snorted. "I didn't see you there when everyone was leaving after the eruption." 

Pirrateu jumped. "Er, well, that's because I went there and got caught in an after shock, uh, when Mu's troops were searching the place, yeah! So see, and this can be yours for just that dagger." 

Galeon walked over to Pirrateu and kneeled down in front of him bending his wrist back as a half foot spike detracted from under his gauntlet. "How about this; you hand that disk over or I see if I can reach my hand up in that shell and take it along with your life." 

Pirrateu gulped. "Uh, that wouldn't be very nice." 

Holly reached down and touched Galeon on the shoulder "No, don't...I'll give it to him. It _was_ supposed to help us defeat Mu...And this is definently helping." 

Galeon stood up pushing the spike back in and nodded weakly. "Okay..." He stepped past her leaning back against the tree again. 

Pirrateu smiled as Holly removed the dagger's strap from around her neck and held it out. "Here..." 

Pirrateu took it quickly handing her the disk. "You can even have the other stuff too!" He grabbed what was left on the mat and wrapped it up quickly running off into the woods. 

Holly smiled looking down at the Mystery Disk pressed against her chest. She slowly moved her arms up and down the edge. "We finally found it...Come on! Let's go find a Shrine!" 

Genki laughed and nodded. "It's finally over!" 

Daina took out the map running her finger along it as Hare looked over her shoulder. 

"There's the Shrine." Hare stuck his finger down over a small grey box on the map. "It's that way!" He pointed to the northwest. 

Genki nodded as he finished pulling his rollerblades on. "Okay, let's go!" He skated up the path as the others followed. 

Holly hung back for a second as she wrapped a flat object in a cloth and then jogged to catch up. She walked beside Galeon glancing over at him occasionally and finally moved in front of him standing looking up at his face. 

Galeon stopped looking down at her as the others moved on. 

Holly looked down blushing lightly. "Um, you forgot this..." She brought the flattened object up infront of her. 

Galeon put his hand on it feeling along finding a hilt at one end. He took the sword from her pulling the wrapping off of it. 

Holly blushed a little brighter as Galeon put his metal covered hand on her shoulder lightly. "Thanks..." 

Galeon took his hand off her shoulder and stood looking at her as he removed his old sword from his belt and buckled the new one to it putting the cloth around the older sheath and then sticking it into his backpack. 

Holly leaned forward kissing him on the cheek and then stood smiling weakly as the blush reddened. "Happy birthday..." 

Galeon looked a little shocked and blushed. "H-Huh? B-But my birthday was day before yesterday...While I was out cold...Not like anyone cared..." 

Holly looked down. "Daina told me...And I cared..." 

Galeon blushed brighter. "W-Why?..." 

Holly looked off to the side trying to avoid his gaze. "I...I...I k-kind of li-" 

"Hey guys, come on! You'll get lost!" 

Galeon looked up the path at Genki standing on the next ridge looking at them. 

"Come on already, we gotta unlock the Phoenix!" He held the disk up in his hand. 

Holly looked back at him and nodded as she turned slowly starting up the path. She felt a hand wrap around hers and blushed brightly smiling to herself as Galeon lead her up the path. 

"Come on, we don't want to get lost out here, do we?" 

Holly shook her head slowly as the smile made it's way out. 

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Genki skated down the dirt hill onto the short cobblestone path. He hardly stopped to kick the large metal doors to the Shrine open and went in side as quickly as he could. 

By the time the others arrived Genki had lit the torches and put the disk in. 

Holly looked at Genki and nodded as she went to the control panel as the others gathered around. 

The disk began to spin as light glowed from around it. Holly pressed her hands down on the large button and concentrated. "Unlock!" the disk glowed bright as the process began. 

The white disk began to rise form the hole but suddenly shattered to pieces strowing itself across the floor. 

Everyone gasped as the pieces slid in all directions. 

Holy stepped out from behind the control panel staring in disbelief. "No...The Phoenix....no..." She fell to her knees as tears came to her eyes. "Oh no...I did something wrong..." She began to cry as Hare picked up a piece of the shattered disk. 

Hare looked at it scraping his finger along the edge. "Hey! This isn't the Phoenix's disk! It's not even a Mystery Disk!" 

Holly climbed to her feet wiping her eyes. "W-What?" 

Hare threw the piece down. "Ooh, that sleezy little thief..." 

Suezo yelped as he looked at Tiger. "Tiger! Your fur!" 

Tiger looked at the monster. "Huh? What?" He looked down at him self and let out a half yelp half bark when he saw the fur polish had made large pink blotches on his fur. 

Suezo pulled out his spy glass looking through it. "Hey! I can't see a thing!" 

Golem took the bag of seasoning and stuck his finger into it licking some off. "Blech! Salt!" 

Genki sat down and spun the wheel on his rollerblade to hear it creak from rust. "Huh?!" 

Galeon looked down at the sword on his belt and grasped the hilt pulling up. With a snap the hilt detached from the sheath. 

Galeon growled dropping the hilt on the ground and unbuckling the sheath. He pulled the cloth wrapped sword from his backpack turning towards the door as Tiger sprinted out. 

Tiger left as fast as he could followed closely by Galeon as they both yelled. "Pirrateu! You're dead!" 

|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|

Captain Jell brought his whip like arm down on the Niton's shell sending it rolling. "Strength Suits my ass!" He balled up the navy blue shirt and hit the monster with it. "You'll die for this treachery!" 

Two of the Jells grabbed his bag strowing it across the ground. Captain Jell looked down picking up the bejewled dagger. He smiled wickedly as he pushed it sheath and all into his body for safe keeping. 

One of the Jells whipped the Niton again leaving him cowering in his shell. 

The group of troops looked up at to see where a low growl was coming from. Captain Jell, followed by the others, begin to laugh as they stared at Tiger. "A pink, poka-dotted, tiger! Ha!" 

Captain Jell was suddenly knocked off his base by Galeon and lay writhing for a moment pulling himself together. He stood looking at Galeon before yelling. "Get him! Attack!" 

Two Jells rushed Galeon as he brought his sword around wounding them both at once. 

Tiger leapt into the air looking down. "Torpedo Attack!" The Jells were zapped by the attack and layed writhing before jumping to their bases and running for their lives. 

"I'll be back, with the rest of my troops, just you wait!" Captain Jell yelled as he disappeared into the forest. 

Galeon turned facing the shell that had two tentacles protruding from it's opening slowly dragging it away. He leapt over stomping his boot down on it's side causing the tentacles to recoil inside. 

"Hand over the dagger and maybe we will kill you quickly!" Tiger yelled as he slinked over to the monster. 

Pirrateu came out a little ways. "I-I don't have it! The Jells do!" 

"What?!" Galeon kicked the shell spinning it across the ground. 

Pirrateu shook his head climbing to his feet. "It's not my fault, they jumped me!" 

"But it _is_ your fault for this _crap_ you sold us!" 

Pirrateu laughed nervously. "Uh, um, you mean it didn't work?" 

Galeon drew his sword lifting it above his head. 

"W-Wait, wait, I know where their camp is, it's up there on that cliff, in the cave!" Pirrateu point his tentacle towards the nearby cliff face. 

A wicked smile crossed Galeon's face as he brought the sword down a little. "Thank you for the information, now you die." 

Pirrateu began to plea bargain. "Wait, wait, wait! I'll get it back, I promise, I'll go alone! Please don't kill me!" 

Galeon lowered the sword to his side. "You have until morning. If you aren't back then I will hunt you down and gut you." 

Pirrateu nodded and quickly ran into the woods. 

Genki and the others caught up to the two and stood trying to catch their breath. 

Genki looked down at the Mana Stone hanging from his neck as it flashed blue and then dimmed slowly as he felt his energy coming back. "W-Where's Pirrateu?" 

Tiger sat on his haunches. "He's gone to get the dagger back from the Jells." 

Holly sat down under a tree pulling her knees up to her chest. "I shouldn't have trusted him...I'm the reason it's lost..." 

Genki shook his head. "No you're not, we all thought that was the real thing." 

Galeon sighed. "It's my fault, if anyones. I knew he was cheating us..." 

Holly looked up at him sadly. "No it's not...I was still the one that gave it to him...That's all I have left of my father and family..." She lowered her head again. 

Genki crouched down beside her. "Come on, we can go setup camp by the ocean, there'll be a nice view." 

"We can go fishin'!" Suezo chimed in. 

"Yeah, a nice fish dinner'll make you feel alot better." Hare added. 

Holly nodded weakly pulling herself to her feet. "Okay..." 

Genki took her hand leading her down the path. "Come on, you'll feel alot better." 

Holly nodded looking back at Galeon who was standing leaned back against a tree watching her. 

**End of Chapter 4**

**Chapter 5: Beach Head Rush *Coming Soon***

Very soon, as in about twenty minutes after this upload.


	5. Chapter 5: Beach Head Rush (Part 2)

**_This chapter is the follow up part to Chapter 4: Shady Shellfish. I split it in half when I saw how long it was, and yes, this part does have some romance in it, but don't worry, it's minimum. As for other stuff, sorry, but there's not really any action, but I can assure you the next chapter will have plenty (It's based around action.). Anyway, onto the boring stuff (I mean the disclaimer, not the fic!). Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Rancher, I do on the other hand own Galeon, so, BACK OFF!_**

**Chapter 5: Beach Head Rush (Shady Shellfish Part 2)**

Genki stood holding a pole with a piece of string attached to it leading into the water. He suddenly jerked it back as the line tugged just to fall over backwards as the fish let go. "Aww man, come on. I gotta catch _some_thing!" 

Mocchi jumped up and down pulling his fishing pole back yielding a small fish that was more fittingly called 'bait'. "Chi...To small..." Mocchi sighed sitting down on the sand. 

Holly looked up the cliff at a faint cracking sound and then something being dragged. She sighed sadly looking back down at the ground in front of her thinking back on the events of the day. 

Holly jumped a little to a crash and looked over at the branch of few feet from her covered in Mangos. She smiled weakly looking up the cliff listening to the light footsteps from the rusty red boots. 

Hare sat looking at the branch finally picking one of the fruits off of it and taking a bite. "Wow! This is great! Come on Genki, you'll never get anything that way!" 

Genki grumbled to himself. "That stupid..." 

Tiger picked one of the Mangos off and carried it over setting it down by Holly. "Here, this'll make you feel better." 

Holly nodded picking up the piece of fruit and wiping it off before taking a bite. She smiled again. "Mmm, good..." 

Tiger nodded before walking off slowly. 

Holly took a few more bites before laying the piece of fruit down and slowly falling asleep. 

The same dream she had been having for the past month started. She would always see her mother standing reaching for her then the screech of a Naga before they were torn away from each other. She would see her mother laying dead and the monsters storming the town. It was so close to what she had witnessed that day she would start to cry. 

For the past three days another scene had seemingly been tacked onto the end. She would see Galeon fighting Mu, and being killed, then a black abyss with him falling. 

Holly jumped as she was catapulted back into reality by Genki's voice. She looked up at him as tears flooded her eyes. 

"Hey Holly, what's wrong?" 

Holly shook her head slowly. "N-Nothing..." 

She climbed to her feet and slid up the slope sitting on the edge before pulling herself up. 

"Holly?" 

Holly looked back at him and turned walking into the forest. She strolled along the path looking around making sure no baddies or anyone else was around before she collapsed under a tree sobbing. 

The dream always left her shaken, but it had been worse than ever since the last scene had been added. She wanted to cry everytime she heard Galeon mention his death, or talk about how he thought he would die. 

She had already seen him nearly die once, and she didn't want to lose him now that she had began to like him. 

Holly nearly jumped from her place as when she heard footsteps through the brush. She looked away hoping it wasn't Genki looking for her. After a second she heard a familiar older voice and looked up at Galeon who was standing over her. 

"Something wrong?..." 

Holly shook her head thinking about his question. "N-No..." 

Galeon kneeled and then sat down leaning back against the tree beside her. "What's wrong?..." 

Holly looked down feebly. Her heart was jumping as she tried to think. "I-It's just..." 

Galeon nodded. "What?" 

Holly sighed as tears came to her eyes. "Everytime I go to sleep I have a dream about Mu killing my parents, and everyone else..." She sobbed once. "And I wake up crying, and no one's..." She couldn't look at his eyes. "There..." 

Galeon gulped to himself. *She's not any better off than me...But she's not...like me...* He sat looking at the girl as she sobbed quietly trying to think of something to do. *I-I c-can't move...My hearts beating really fast...Why?...* 

Holly looked up at him and leaned over onto his shoulder putting wrapping her arms around his as her sobs quieted a little. *Please put your arm around me...Please...* 

Galeon felt himself sweating and thought it was leaking through his armor. He was totally petrified and couldn't move a muscle, or doing anything except stare at the girl sobbing into his shoulder. 

Genki looked over the brush seperating them from the path. He scowled and took a few steps back as tears came to his eyes. He turned and ran leaping off the drop down onto the beach. 

Tiger looked up as he stopped and crouched by the ocean edge sitting tossing pebbles into it. 

*What'd he see to make _him_ mad?* Tiger thought looking back at the forest. "Hmm..." 

Tiger slinked across the beach past Golem who was sitting looking at the seashells scattered about. 

"I'm uh, gonna take a walk." 

Golem nodded. "Okay, gol." 

"Maybe the big bad wolf should wash the rest of the pink crud out of his fur while he's gone too." Hare chimbed in. 

Tiger spit at the monster's feet and snorted leaping up the rise and moving up the path. 

;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;

Pirrateu looked up the mountain cliff in front of him, and then at the path leading up it to the cave the Jells were camping in. 

"No way in hell I'm going up there before nightfall. Those guy'll just have to wait. I could just leave though..." Pirrateu thought back to the look in Galeon's eyes when he warned him. "...Or not...That guy gives me the creeps." 

Pirrateu dropped his bag against a boulder and gathered up sticks for a fire while he waited for night. He looked up at the near setting sun and then held out his tentacle shooting a spark of electricity that started the kindling. 

"Those guys better be glad I'm wasting all my time doing thi-..." He smiled mischevously. "Why _am_ I doing this?...I got a better idea..." Pirrateu grabbed his bag and crawled up the cliff trail to the camp. 

"Hey guys! What's up?" The Jells all looked at him and several growled as the Captain crawled over to him. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" 

Pirrateu laughed nervously. "Oh, you know, selling some _real_ information!..." 

Captain Jell looked at the others. "What?" 

Pirrateu smiled. "I can tell you where the Rebel's camp is!" 

The Jell thought for a second. "What's the price?" 

"Oh, just that rusty old dagger you got, it's not worth much, but it means something to me!" 

Captain Jell looked at the others who nodded. "Okay. Where is it?" He produced the dagger from deep inside his body and held it out. 

Pirrateu grabbed the dagger. "Straight down the path, at the end there's a drop off, they're camping on the beach!" 

The Jell smiled. "Excellent. Now, get out of here before I decide to kill you." 

Pirrateu nodded and laughed as he walked off tossing the dagger up catching is repeatedly. "This is to easy. No more creepy guy, I got a fortune waiting, and the Mu'll be off my back." He laughed again skipping down the path. 

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Tiger creapt through the underbrush in the forest eventually seeing what had angered Genki. He crouched watching Galeon and Holly awkradly sitting together under the tree, Holly leaned against Galeon hugging him lightly, Galeon looked pale and ready to faint. 

Tiger smiled slightly. "Those two picked a fine time to start a Romance Story, right in the middle of a War Novel..." He laughed quietly walking off thinking back to how close this resembled some of the experiences of his earlier life with one of the females in his pack. 

He suddenly stopped and sighed thinking about Mu killing his whole pack and taking his brother, then to seeing his brother die. He shook his head and reared up sharpening his claws on a nearby tree. "Damn him. Mu, you're going down." 

|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|

Mocchi stood looking at Genki who was still crouching and trying to skip rocks on the retreating ocean water. 

Mocchi smiled and imitated him squatting near the edge and picking up random rocks tossing them into the water. 

Genki was re-examaning how he really felt about Holly. He was quickly realizing he had originally thought of her as a sister, but now he felt more for her, but she still treated him like a brother. 

He could tell she had a crush on Galeon, it seemed the Mana Stone even reacted to feelings, everytime he got around her it would turn green tinted for envy. He hated seeing her staring at Galeon dreamily and being lost in thought about him. 

Golem picked up another shell and looked at it. "Hmm, pretty." He set it down in a small pile and then went to the next, which he discarded over his shoulder. 

Suezo was jolted awake by the shell hitting him on the head. "Hey, watch it!" He looked around. "Wow, it's almost night." 

Golem nodded. "Yeah, gol." 

"And we've done next to nothing all day..." Hare sighed. 

Suezo did the best remdition a stick and eyeball could of a shrug. "Oh well, it's not like we can go anywhere without that dagger..." 

Hare sighed. "Yeah...We've got the get it back." 

"Think we can trust the Pirrateu guy?" 

Hare shook his head. "I doubt it, albeit he's long gone by now." 

Pirrateu was indeed gone, but he was still hanging around the forest wanting to see the outcome of things. 

Suezo sighed. "Well, what're we gonna do?" 

Hare smiled. "We attack at dawn." 

"W-What?" 

Hare stood up laughing. "But of course, and I have the plan." 

Genki looked back at them from the water's edge. "Okay...Sure..." 

Cujo sat beside the fire cleaning his fur listening half heartedly. 

Hare picked up a stick scratching in the sand. "Okay, there's one path up, it's the only way, but we have an advantage." 

Suezo looked at him confused. "What?..." 

Hare looked up at Daina who was leaning over them. "Daina'll fly up and distract them." 

Daina frowned. "I'm not fighting." 

Hare smirked. "You won't have to, use what got you this far." 

Daina slapped him across the cheek. 

"Hey, it's true!" Hare yelled rubbing the red mark. 

Daina scowled. "How about you climb the mountain and distract them." 

Hare grumbled going back to what he was doing. "Now, what I was saying, before I was so rudely slapped, was that Daina will distract them, then Golem." He looked up at the monster. "Will get a boulder and toss on top of them." 

Suezo nodded. "Yeah, okay. Then what?" 

Hare shrugged. "We just attack." 

Suezo sighed. "It always comes down to me getting my tail roasted, doesn't it?..." 

|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|!|

Holly had nearly falling asleep leaning against Galeon. Neither of them had moved more than a little in the past hour, they had just sat thinking, mostly about each other, as time passed. 

Holly sighed sitting up and stretching her arms as she yawned. 

Galeon blushed lightly as he watched her but soon yawned also being forced to stretch his body. 

Holly slid her hands down her sides slowly straightening her shirt before standing looking down at Galeon. 

"You hungry?..." 

Galeon shook his head. "Not really..." 

Holly nodded. "Okay..." 

Galeon stood up beside her. "Come on, let's go back to camp..." 

Holly sighed and followed him down the path to the beach. 

Genki looked up at them and scowled sitting back beside the fire. 

Throughout the day Genki and Mocchi had managed to catch enough fish for a small dinner, along with the mangos it wasn't that bad. 

After dinner Genki sat staring at the fire still thinking about Holly. Most of the others were rolling out what they were sleeping on or already bedding down. 

Hare and Suezo wasted no time in hopes they wouldn't get picked for watch. 

Tiger had returned and was laying a ways from the fire in the shadows sleeping silently. 

Genki sighed slowly. "I'll take first watch..." 

Galeon and Cujo both looked at him. 

"If you think you can handle it..." Cujo said as he layed down. 

"Of course I can handle it!" Genki snapped back. 

Cujo snorted. "Whatever." 

Holly had removed her shoes and the red tunic laying them in a piled by her purse before sliding under the sleeping bag cover. 

Galeon had left his armor tied in a pile warming by the fire and sat looking off into space for a few minute before going to bed. 

Within an hour everyone but Genki was sound asleep around the fire not noticing the Jell spy watching them from the cover of the forest. 

The Jell smiled to itself as it slithered back to camp quickly to report they were asleep. 

Captain Jell rallied the troops telling them to grab their shovels before the troops slithered their way down to the beach. 

Each of the Jells silently stood beside one of the Rebels waiting for the order. In one motion all of them swooped in grabbing the bodies and holding them tight as the others went about digging. 

"Hey, let, me, go!" Suezo yelled. 

"How'd they get us?!" Hare added. 

Cujo scowled and looked at Genki who was being held to the ground. "Never let a kid do a man's job." 

Golem struggled but couldn't break free of the Jells grip on him. 

Within two hours the Jells had buried all of the Rebels up to their necks at the water's edge. 

Galeon looked around. "What're you gonna do now?..." 

Captain Jell laughed. "Now, we just wait for high tide!" He smiled pointing at the slowly rising water. 

Several of the Jells yawned and the Captain slumped down a little. "That digging was hard work...We'll rest until it's time!" 

All of the Jells nodded and slumped down into puddles falling asleep. 

Suezo grumbled as he wiggled pulling himself up a little. 

"What're you doing?" Hare said from the adjacent hole. 

"I think I can reach 'dis shovel." Suezo said quietly stretching his tongue out. "Come on, come on." He stretched a little farther touching the shovel's handle. 

Hare nodded. "You can do it Suezo." 

Genki grumbled with his chin sitting on the sand. "I can't believe I let this happen..." 

Suezo strained and suddenly recoiled. 

"What's wrong?!" Hare said as quietly as he could. 

"Tongue cramp..." 

"Ooh, hurry up!" 

Suezo finally got stretched far enough and grabbed the shovel pulling it to him and digging as quickly as he could. 

A few hours later the Rebels were all standing on the beach dressed and ready as the stars begin to disappear into the morning sky. 

Pirrateu had watched from the thicket of brush on the ridge and had seen the whole thing. "Maybe these guys are tougher than I thought..." He shivered at the thought of Galeon actually gutting him and looked back down as one of the Jells stirred. 

Captain Jell looked up slowly yawning. He saw a pair of red boots in front of him and leapt back as he looked up to see Galeon standing over him. "Jells, aten-hut!" He yelled as loudly as possible waking the others. 

Galeon held his sword out and then stabbed it into the Jell's chest striking his core. The Jell shrieked as it contorted and reverted to a Lost Disk. The others were awake by now and being attacked. 

Cujo jumped on one's head stomping and kicking it before finishing the job. 

Golem slammed his fist down on top of two at once leaving them dead. 

The group quickly mopped up the rest of the Jells and stood looking over the Lost Disks standing at the edge of the water. 

Holly sighed looking down sadly. "I wish we didn't have to kill them...And we still didn't find the dagger." She sniffled once and sighed. 

Genki looked up at her. "Don't worry, we'll still find the Phoenix." 

Holly brought her hands up covering her face. She felt like she had let everyone down and now they couldn't do anything. 

Pirrateu sniffled as he watched them. She really was hurt now. He closed his eyes and pulled the dagger from around his neck throwing it as far as he could. It landed at Holly's feet who immediatly crouched down picking it up. 

Tiger and Galeon both looked up into the forest. Galeon drew his sword and started towards the watching Pirrateu. 

Holly looked up at him. "No, Galeon, Tiger...Don't..." 

Pirrateu took a few steps back watching as his fear left him. He turned walking away lowering his voice. "They say a woman's tears are even stronger than a sword..." 

Holly clutched the dagger to her chest sighing as a small smile crossed her face. "Thanks, Pirrateu..." 

Galeon looked back as the morning sun crested the horizon and covered the makeshift battlefield. "Now where do we go?..." 

Holly shrugged. "I guess wherever the Magic Stone tells us next..." She said as she pulled it from her shirt. 

Genki looked at the two as they both caught each others glance. He mumbled something and kicked his rollerblades off standing in the sand barefoot. "Come on, let's go..." 

Holly nodded and concentrated on the stone. The arrow formed pointing northeast up the coast. "I guess that's the way then..." 

Daina looked over her map. "We'll be in...Taloss pretty soon..." 

There was a low thump causing everyone to look back as Big Blue and Pixie appeared on the ridge slowly making their way down towards the group. 

Big Blue raised his hand waving as they neared and Pixie smiled seeing them together. 

"New friends?" Pixie questioned. 

Genki crossed his arms. "If you call them that..." 

Galeon stood looking at her and shrugged walking off. 

Hare pointed at Cujo. "That's Cujo, this is Daina, and that's Galeon." He said pointing at the others. 

Pixie nodded. "Okay. Now, back to the news." 

Genki turned looking at her. "What news?" 

"Mu is returning from Cairus, I think he's found the Final Gate..." 

"What?!" Genki leapt towards them. 

Pixie nodded. "He's moving it to where his body is now, you haven't got long..." 

Genki dropped to his knees. "Aw man, now what?..." 

Pixie watched him and smiled. "Don't worry Genki, you'll figure something out, you always have." 

Pixie looked back towards the forest. "We need to go now, we have to keep tabs on Mu, and he's been moving quickly. The Pirate Dragons are helping us, but we can't get to far behind." 

Genki nodded and sighed. "Okay..." 

Big Blue smiled. "And besides, you have more help now." He turned and walked off with Pixie after finishing, heading back into the forest. 

Genki sighed pulling his blades on before jumping to his feet again. "Okay, let's go!" He pointed off in the direction and climbed the dirt slope so he could skate on the packed dirt along the path. 

The others followed him up to the path moving along slowly hoping to reach the next town soon and find some food. 

**

**END CHAPTER 5**  
Chapter 6: Rumble in the Arena *Coming Soon*

**


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